Two MU student organizations rallied to protest Missouri anti-transgender legislation on Tuesday afternoon.
The protest comes just a day after Missouri’s GOP-led House voted to limit which public high school sports teams transgender athletes can compete on.
Oasis and Mizzou Young Democratic Socialists of America held a rally at Speaker's Circle on MU's campus to bring attention to the harm the pieces of legislation could bring to transgender youth across the state.
May Hall, president of Oasis, organized the rally on Tuesday. Being a student athlete herself, Hall understands how the legislation being passed can change things for her. She was denied to compete in a fencing competition.
"It was disheartening," Hall said. "To read that was really disheartening and disappointing because I do love to compete. But I'm simply not comfortable with either the identification of competing in a men's league and also there's safety concerns for me."
Missouri representatives are once again part of a national movement of statehouse conservatives pushing for restrictions regarding transgender youth and athletics.
Rep. Chuck Basye (R-Rocheport) is one of multiple legislators attempting to add amendments on a bill before the May 13 deadline to get bills to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk.
"We're going to try and be what we think is best for our constituents," Basye said.
Basye's amendment to House bill 2140 would allow school districts to vote to prohibit transgender girls attending K-12 public schools from being members of girls’ sports teams.
"It's an uncomfortable thing to talk about for a lot of school board members and administrators," Basye said. "But I think that this would be jumped on in a heartbeat by many, many districts, and they would put this on the ballot."
The amendment passed on Monday is sponsored by Rep. Ron Copeland (R-Salem). It has similar intentions of Basye's amendment but only allows trans athletes to participate in athletic contests "organized for persons of the same biological sex included on the student's birth certificate," according to the amendment text.
“I think it's good policy," Bayse said. "I don't think that a biological male should be competing in sports that are designed for females. I don't think it's fair.
